1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a production control system, and more particularly to a production control system in semiconductor production lines.
2. Description of the Background Art
In production lines, forms copied from original sheets of paper have been prepared by apparatus and parameter, each of which are placed in a predetermined position near a corresponding apparatus. Such forms are provided to record, as histories, vacuum values, gas pressures, flow rates, film thickness values, foreign substance events and the like with respect to actually processed products of each model name and lot number in a product processing apparatus for performing control, thereby maintaining product quality.
Recording has been conducted by each batch (a unit of processing) by manually filling in the forms with: dates, chip names, lot numbers and man numbers when inputting products to an apparatus for processing; indicated values of each measuring instrument of the apparatus during processing; and film thickness values, the number of foreign substances, special remarks and the like with respect to processed products.
FIG. 34 is a table showing an SCF (Sort Circle Feedback) sheet 91 which is one of the above-mentioned forms. As shown in the table, a manual data input region 91a on the SCF sheet 91 is filled in by handwriting with data containing model names (chip names) and lot numbers by operators.
Operating conditions in conventional production lines have been recorded manually as described above, which have caused problems in that operation errors including miswriting, overlooking of out-of-spec values and mistaking of lots.
An object of the present invention is to obtain a production control system and a production controlling method capable of performing production control with high accuracy in which errors created by operators in data input are minimized.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, the production control system relates to manufacturing processes in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a bar-code-labeled component provided with a bar code defining identification information. The bar-code-labeled component includes an extremely short bar-code-labeled component having a bar code label affixed thereto. The bar code label is printed with a bar code of not more than 3 mm in height. The production control system includes a data input unit and a data processor. The data input unit has portability and inputs data on the manufacturing processes of the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus, and has a bar code reading function for reading the bar code on the bar code label and inputting identification information of the extremely short bar-code-labeled component. The data on the manufacturing processes include the identification information of the extremely short bar-code-labeled component. The data processor reads out the data on the manufacturing processes inputted to the data input unit, thereby performing production control based on the data on the manufacturing processes.
The bar code reading function of the data input unit allows identification information to be read out from the bar code printed on the extremely short bar-code-labeled component as data on the manufacturing processes. Thus, errorless data input by bar code reading can be performed for a device having a bar-code-labeled region with the narrower width of approximately 3.0 mm, which allows production control to be performed with higher accuracy.
According to a second aspect of the invention, the production controlling method relates to manufacturing processes in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus including a bar-code-labeled component provided with a bar code defining identification information. The bar-code-labeled component includes an extremely short bar code labeled component having a bar code label affixed thereto. The bar code label is printed with a bar code of not more than 3 mm in height. The production controlling method includes the following steps (a) and (b). The step (a) is to read out data on the manufacturing processes in the semiconductor manufacturing apparatus. The data on the manufacturing processes include identification information of the extremely short bar-code-labeled component obtained by reading the bar code on the bar code label. The step (b) is to perform production control based on the data on the manufacturing processes.
The step (a) is executed so that identification information can be read out from the bar code printed on the extremely short bar-code-labeled component as data on the manufacturing processes. Thus, errorless data input by bar code reading can be performed for a device having a bar-code-labeled region with the narrower width of approximately 3.0 mm, which allows production control to be performed with higher accuracy.
According to a third aspect of the invention, the production controlling method relates to manufacturing processes in a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus and includes the following steps (a) and (b). The step (a) is to read out data on the manufacturing processes. The data on the manufacturing processes include at least one of operator identification information obtained by reading one bar code defining an operator and inspection value information obtained by reading the other bar code defining an inspection value. The step (b) is to perform production control based on the data on the manufacturing processes.
The step (a) is executed so as to read out, as data on the manufacturing processes, at least one of the operator identification information obtained by reading one bar code defining the operator and the inspection value information obtained by reading the other bar code defining the inspection value. Thus, data can be input without errors created by the operator or errors in measured values, which allows production control to be performed with higher accuracy.
These and other objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.